Terrorism Study: ISIS Isn’t the Deadliest Extremist Group

Terrorism Study: ISIS Isn’t the Deadliest Extremist Group

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

By: Gopal Ratnam

Worldwide deaths from terrorist incidents jumped 80 percent in 2014 compared with the year before and were concentrated in five major conflict zones, according to the third annual Global Terrorism Index, released November 17. While that conclusion was unsurprising, the index included less obvious findings with implications for policy makers who have to tailor solutions to specific countries and regions, according to experts who discussed the study at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Type: Analysis

Violent Extremism

Kerry Says Assad Staying as Syrian Leader Is a "Non-Starter"

Kerry Says Assad Staying as Syrian Leader Is a "Non-Starter"

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Secretary of State John Kerry, in an address at the U.S. Institute of Peace on the U.S. approach to the war in Syria, reinforced the administration’s firm opposition to allowing President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power under any resolution to the 4 ½-year conflict. Before leaving the U.S. today to resume talks on Syria in Vienna, Kerry pledged accelerated U.S. diplomatic and military efforts to end the fighting and defeat the self-styled “Islamic State” extremist group.

Type: Analysis

Fragility & ResilienceViolent ExtremismMediation, Negotiation & DialogueJustice, Security & Rule of LawGlobal Policy

In Tunisia, Economic Crisis Threatens Political Progress

In Tunisia, Economic Crisis Threatens Political Progress

Thursday, November 12, 2015

By: Fred Strasser

The relative stability of Tunisia’s politics—achieved through a “national dialogue” whose mediators won the Nobel Peace Prize—is largely holding. Within a broad, governing coalition, Islamists, secularists, trade unions and employers all jockey for advantage in the usual democratic ways. But beneath the comparative calm, an economic crisis threatens the political gains of the only country building a democracy from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismEnvironmentMediation, Negotiation & DialogueNonviolent ActionEconomics

U.N. Eyes Early Human Rights Intervention to Promote Development

U.N. Eyes Early Human Rights Intervention to Promote Development

Monday, November 9, 2015

By: Gopal Ratnam

United Nations discussions that are underway on how it can intervene to stop human rights violations within national boundaries might help prevent such tensions from exploding into the kinds of civil wars and floods of refugees that the world is experiencing today, said Jan Eliasson, the global body’s deputy secretary general, at an event organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionViolent ExtremismEnvironmentGlobal PolicyHuman RightsEconomics

Q&A: Russia’s Intervention in Syria

Q&A: Russia’s Intervention in Syria

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

By: Dr. Elie Abouaoun ;  Gopal Ratnam

Russia’s military involvement in Syria has further complicated a four-year-long civil war that the United Nations says has killed more than 250,000 people and driven half the population from their homes. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad just visited Moscow, his first trip outside Syria since the conflict began in 2011 – to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Elie Abouaoun, director of Middle East programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, considers the ramifications, the prospects for r...

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismMediation, Negotiation & DialogueEducation & Training

Rare Stability Is At Risk in Iraq’s Kurdish Region and Elsewhere, Middle East Experts Say

Rare Stability Is At Risk in Iraq’s Kurdish Region and Elsewhere, Middle East Experts Say

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

By: Gopal Ratnam

Iraq’s Kurdish region, which has been crucial for containing the Islamic State’s rampage and sheltering Iraqis fleeing the extremist group’s brutalities, urgently needs greater engagement from the U.S. and Europe, a panel of experts said in a discussion hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace. Only intensified support will enable the region to withstand the multiple shocks of the past year, including its own current political crisis.

Type: Analysis

ReconciliationJustice, Security & Rule of LawViolent ExtremismConflict Analysis & Prevention

Music, Poetry, Film: Shoring Up Identities for Peaceful Ends

Music, Poetry, Film: Shoring Up Identities for Peaceful Ends

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

By: Nate Wilson

A Somali master poet reconnects citizens to their government. A Lebanese filmmaker collects fighters' stories to dramatize the cost of war. Police in Northern Ireland adopt symbols of peace to signal a new ethos. In places simmering with long-standing social tensions and alienation, common cultural understandings can help ease hostility, suggesting a potentially powerful role for a mechanism still under-used in peacebuilding: the arts.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionViolent ExtremismNonviolent Action